No Words from the Weary

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat for he grants sleep to those he loves." Psalm 127:2

Boarded the 6 Train at 4:45AM this morning and was not alone. Hair and Makeup camera ready drinking my stiff coffee after four hours of sleep, I was amongst Friday night club revelers taking the long ride home and still discussing the DJ's old school sounds...NO SLEEP TIL BROOKLYN.

After wading through the sea of extra's and a steaming hot breakfast line that wrapped around the corner, places were set for a day of madness. A day of Exteriors.

 Stood on Park Avenue next to the Waldorf Astoria in front of the breathtaking St. Bartholomew's Church for twelve hours and watched the sun rise and set over the set of Salt. As the paparazzi created the mass hysteria of  an Angelina frenzy and Liev held his beautiful blonde baby between takes, the NYPD bagpipe music put us all in the mourning spirit....

One partial scene in the can. 12 hours of work on my time card. I'm zonked.

Rolling, Action, Cut, Wrap, Home, Hallelujah!

Foot on the pedal - never ever false metal
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle
My job's ain't a job - it's a damn good time

No sleep til'

Are you rockin the party eight days a week?

 

Two Way Street

"So in everything, do unto others, as you would have them do to you, for this sums up all the Law and Prophets." Matthew 7:12

We have all heard often and put into practice sometimes,  The Golden Rule. Such a concept to strive for and what so many people say they want. A novel idea. But here on Earth, the common translation seems to read...He who has all the Gold makes all the Rules.

This applies itself quite well in the Land of Plenty.

There are people with the disposable income and those of us who work for them. 

Case in point, in the short time I have been here I have gained the trust of a gold holder.  This is an extreme compliment to me as I've stated before; Honesty is a characteristic I would like to have follow my spoken name. After counting piles of paper money and relaying how much extraneous cash he actually had laying around, the interesting work proposition followed. While I am not skilled in the profession, rate dealing is quickly becoming one of my keener traits.   Hand to mouth people.... Job number 5 is it?

In the meantime,

It's Hi diddly Dee an Actor's Life for me. Filled out a payment voucher today for Columbia Pictures...Another Gold Holder.  They casted me as an extra on my first feature film. It is an espionage thriller called Salt starring Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrieber...oooh I already have stars in my eyes..... Today was the wardrobe approval meeting for the film, all of thirty minutes and I got payed $11 per 10 minute increments...not too shabby.  This thing we call show business might be right up my alley...(drawback 5:15 AM Set call tomorrow)

Truly, I am feeling overwhelmingly blessed at this point. Appreciative of all of the opportunities that are coming my way. Thrilled to be generating revenue. I can most certainly be a yes girl employee...but there's a catch.  

What am I creating? What is truly mine? Am I just working for and towards another's dream?

Where's the reciprocity in your life?

Super! Thanks for Asking

"Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment" Ecclesiastes 11:9

These vagabond shoes are longing to stray, right through the very heart of it. The little town blues are melting away, I'm gonna make a brand new start of it...

The blue-eyed crooner and I caught the same spirit

Forty Eight Hours of solid hustle work...From catering to playlists, candle lighting to publicists, cashmere cardigans to plaid pashmina, I've been up to my elbows in a world of Fashion Entertainment.  For something as material as launching the new Fall 2009 Denim line may be...a lot of blood, sweat, tears, heart, and money sure do get poured into such an event.( I can't believe the 80's are back)

 Significant or meaningless, it is happening and alive and well in the city that never sleeps. After the magazine editors had come and gone, food passed, booze devoured, mannequins undressed ( a lot quicker this time) and we had burned though the glamour, glitz, and green (figuratively and literally), I relished in the end of a magical night surrounded by blue spruce watching the moon rise as the clouds rolled back and revealed shining stars over Manhattan's glorious right angles...This place is addictive! 

I believe there are two sorts of people, those that can live in New York City and those who can not. Those who adore musical theater and can sing it no matter their level of exhaustion and those that do not. I'm not sure there is a gray area...

As I was funneling V2 Energy Vodka( caffeine and taurine) into bottles five stories high on the roof overlooking the Flatiron Building, I made eye contact with the faces chained to the desks in the building next door. I wondered what was is it about New York that keeps them here. Is it the same energy that has captured me and made me long to be here the better part of my 20's?   Was this destination their dream as well? How many people in their lives are waiting for them to get New York out of their system.

Word to the wise..

Quit asking me how long I am staying. I don't know.

Cease the discussions about settling down. I might not.

No more inquires on pregnancy and childbirth. You'll know when I'm ready.

Gone are the remarks about my career. I define it as living.

New line of questioning...

ARE YOU HAPPY?

Girl Interrupted

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,  and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40:28-29

Oh for me, the continual duration has reached it's maximum capacity.

I knew this would eventually happen, no writing tonight...it's sleepy time y'all.

Full up?

Sincere and Stable

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God." 1 Corinthians 2:1

After spending 13 hours transforming a  gorgeous flat on 5th Avenue into a fashion showroom, wrestling to get size 25 jeans on mannequins for a good portion of the day, and toasting the clients on a job well done...I'm home and quite frankly experiencing intense writer's block.

So I will keep it sweet and solid.

My absolute favorite and most refreshing aspect of  New Yorkers is, they keep it real. I know I've written about this before but the truth is so much easier to swallow than any delicate white lie said straight to my face or behind my back. From money, appearance, ridicule, opinions, preferences, and lifestyles...what southerners often think but rarely voice, they say it loud and they say it proud. I heard Oprah Winfrey say once that when she turned 40 years old, she quit caring what others thought of her.

 In Manhattan, that condition has a premature onset.

Again, I take such comfort in this as it takes the guesswork out of an acquaintance.  

This absoluteness makes talking about the Lord even easier for me. Not because people give me the benefit of the doubt, quite the contrary.  Often they adamantly disagree, call me crazy, say I'm brainwashed and naive, and I've got to be joking???

 Tolerance seems to go out the window.

 Today a new friend told me he doesn't believe in God, but believes in good. How could I believe Jesus was the son of God? Mary was actually raped my a Roman soldier and the good man Joseph saved her from a flogging. With the same certainty he went on to say Christians believe they are superior to everyone else...

If that is a genuine experience, I'm sorry I have failed in that respect because humility and acceptance are my commands.  I can argue my case, talk just as loud as the next, or be a living example but my best recourse in defense are God's breathed words..

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

"He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble."
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." 

Here's the deal... Hear my words. I don't expect you to heed them. 

I'll attend to your beliefs. But don't expect me to adopt them.

Ain't freedom of choice a beautiful thing?

Tastes Better Too

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." Mark 9:50

You know the omniscient all knowing THEY? Well, they say variety is the spice of life..

In the last several days, I auditioned for a supporting role as a Stepford Wife type for an Indy film, met two transgenders, was blatantly denied drinks at a gay bar, cordially invited to a Porn and Pancakes weekend at a city church, sat through an intense 90 minutes of Thelma and Louise meets Kill Bill production appropriately called The Rape Play (deserves it's own post), listened to an overdone woman make an ASAP appointment to get fat from her buttocks shot into her already plump cheeks, overheard my roommate having a serious romp session in our living room, wrote two articles for the NY Examiner for cash, got back in contact with Scholastic Publishing during a teacher's protest weekend, discovered a guest speaker at a church plagiarized his entire monologue, celebrated a blessed birthday, gave a theatrical performance of Morales' Nothing from The Chorus Line, interviewed with a skincare Rep at Barney's, reunited with a dear 13 year old boy who I babysat all through college, ate bone marrow and butter spread on a toast point, was payed to be a personal assistant and grocery shop, walked through Times Square on a clear 50 degree night (Yikes), danced my butt off on a rooftop bar, started freelance work for a stylist consultant for a denim line (samples), ran three miles along the Hudson, took a lucrative secret shopper job which is acting practice, visited three preschools, had hot husband and wife relations on the phone (in person is first preference), witnessed a mob boss give his testimony to Jesus Christ, said yes to every Law and Order extra job that came into view, pushed two wardrobe racks five blocks down Broadway, and drafted my intro article to Blogger Bee in NYC....Tomorrow, I am a mixologist for a fashion publicity event and creative production assistant for the line's party on Wednesday on 5th Avenue. Only in this city y'all!

I may be blonde and speak with a southern drawl but you can't typecast me.

Are you saying it's Time to Make the Doughnuts again?

He's a Good Fella

"When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,   he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7

Oh man, am I glad I went to church today. At Journey Church today on 34th Street, I received a double dose of entertainment. Worshiping the Lord and a heaping portion of a gangster flick.

You've heard of jailhouse conversions? Well today's testimony gives new meaning to that phrase.   The guest speaker today went through two born again experiences but the second one saved his life.   Michael Franzese grew up as the son of the notorious underboss of New York's Columbo Crime Family.  After his father was indicted in the 60's and sent to Leavenworth Prison to serve out a 50 year sentence, Franzese chose to follow his dad and took an oath on Halloween night 1975  with six others as a Made man he was born (again)  into La Costa Nostra, a life of violence and deceit. He quickly rose in the ranks to Captain of the Mafia...and according to the Fed's and Fortune Magazine, Franzese was the top money earner since Al Capone. Destined and groomed for boss at the height of his career, he was raking in $6-8 million dollars a week in scams...accumulating more power all the while.

I watched this charismatic, handsome, impeccably groomed man begin his testimony with a commanding accent to stop you in your tracks.

"Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior is my hero." were his first words. Okay, I am captivated.  He went on to talk about the gory details of exaggerated violence, different morality, deceptive ways and the greed that was a fast flowing faucet that came with the Life.  He escaped five white-collar crime indictments up against Rudy Giuliani who threatened him with 100 years....

In the mob, they have a saying which I like to practice. "CUT TO THE CHASE"

So I will, he met a woman who changed his life and told him about the Lord. This was the catalyst that moved Franzese to do what no other made man has ever done and gotten out alive;  He quit the Mafia. And surrendered to a new Boss.

He spent 3 years of prison in the hole on complete lock down completely hungering for a deeper relationship with Jesus and consuming the Word of the Lord. In which he says is the only way for inner peace and happiness.  And like the Apostle Paul, he said he was the least likely Christian Candidate having lived a life in complete contradiction to God's will. Like Osama Bin Laden joining the GW fan club or Hitler converting to Judaism. But the greatest gift of Christianity is everyone is welcome and that God can use your life (no matter your past) to His Glory!  He turned his back on his old life and embraced the Eternal...

How's that for a happy ending?

Are your choices pleasing to God or to you?